Stupidest ticket I've heard of in a while. The "too loud" thing you could argue because he used no metering and the ear is not an accurate measure, especially when he has no other Evolution to compare it to. The modified exhaust thing you're kinda screwed on though...unless you um...backed your car onto a curb causing a puncture in your stock exhaust. ::cough::

 

I think you should look at this as a positive opportunity. I am in NY.
In MA is speeding a moving violation that has points ???
Will your insurance co. find out ??? Do you have previous tickets ???

Here in NY if you go to court for a moving violation like speeding ( unless it was some obscene speed ),
the cops and the court will usually let you plead it down to some lesser charge with no points.
State troopers, local cops, it doesn't matter. All they want is the cash; don't kid yourself.
The police ... God bless 'em I sure wouldn't want their job, but in reality 99% of their time is
spent handing out traffic tickets. They are in effect acting as shakedown artists for the town they are patroling in.
This is how towns generate extra revenue; it's easy money, and it is simply your turn to make a "donation".

Although what he did was pure BS, and you can beat it no sweat, if you do then you can kiss away
any chance to get out of the speeding ticket. Give them a hard time and they will not talk to you.

Go in, hat in hand, plead it all down , write a check and you will be done. No reason to get Allstate ( or whoever ) involved.

Some battles are worth fighting; this is not one of them.
You will win the battle and lose the war...

Mike's dad

 

thats bs man.. some cops are just *** holes like that.. i got pulled over once and the cop was like "your exhuast is pretty loud, is it stock?" so i told him it wasnt stock, and i explained my whole setup to him and he goes.. "very cool, have a good night" and he walked back to his car. so i guess it depends on the cop, maybe he was just a mustang loving hard head who hates little japanese cars.

 

You do know you could always plee with the prosecutor and tell him how you have a perfect record driving and that this is your first moving violation. 9 out of 10 times they will dismiss it. If you do have points...good luck getting that ticket banished. What is it? a 2 point ticket?

 

Yeah, as Senor Info says, the law does imply that you can't add anything louder than stock. But how do you figure that out? Without some kind of roadside test, it's tough to prove. If you could prove the opposite -- by having an exhaust shop measure it with a db meter, for example -- you would certainly add to your case. But the burden of proof should probably be on the state, so unless the police officer is considered some kind of sound expert, I doubt they will push the sound ticket if you argue about it in court.

On the other hand, the judge could get annoyed at you. If you want to be safe, hire a lawyer. Of course, that costs more than the value of all your fines, I'm sure...

--Dan
Mach V

 

Hey all,

Had my hearing before a magistrate in Attleboro this morning.

Magistrate immediately threw out the altered exhaust citation. Found me responsible for the speeding, so I'm appealing.

Good news though so far.

On a side note, some of you guys may be interested in the NMA, National Motorists Organization:

http://www.motorists.org/

They are national, but have a MA specific arm as well. Lots of good traffic ticket fighting info. Well, we'll see how good it is if I get the speeding ticket dismissed . Also, they lobby for motorists rights.

Take care,

FB

 

Just some info for any folk around the SE MASS and RI area stay out of fallriver with modified exhaust especialy "the ave" cops are giving modifed exhaust tickets out like crazy 50 dollars a whack you can be sitting at a stop light if it dont looks stock your getting pulled over they say there craking down due to hundreds of complaints just a word of advise

 

Try to use the facts that:

1.) There was a car in front of you (radar interference) how did he 'visually' identify your speed?

Speeding cases must have two pieces of evidence, visual proof that you were speeding, and radar proof that your were speeding. From case law, you can't have one without the other. With a car in front of you, you have a pretty good case. Also, if you 'sped' up or were 'slowing' down, radar guns have a hard time tracking your changing speed. They can 'guess' but that doesn't mean the radar is accurate 'beyond a resonable doubt.' I'm about 75% sure that you immediately 'slowed' down once you saw the cop. Brake lights going on after you've passed a cop, is almost a sure red flag for the cop to pull you over, no matter what you're doing.

2.) You got tacked on a muffler fine that was eventually dismissed. That may indicate an incompetent officer. Bring that point up in court during your testimony, or cross-examination about the happenings during the "stop."

Good Luck,

jcnel.

 

Does anyone know if you can ask the police officer to show you the certification that the radar was atested?
What does the law say here?

As far as you're concerned the device was not accurate and could show your speed with a huge mistake.
In my home country, police always takes 10% off of your speed because of the device measuring error.
If you catch him without atest, they have no case in court.

 

Guys, definitely check out the NMA site, lots of good info. Under the Federal Freedom of Information Act, you have the right to request the calibration records as public documents. Not necessarily during the stop, but you can make a formal request via certified mail.

As for any ticket, such as altered exhaust or speeding, I definitely recomment you fight it if you can take the time from work. The fine isn't the only problem, also the higher insurance, and a blemished record which hurts you in future violations, potentially even losing your license.

Consider the NMA, they support certain bills that uphold motorist rights and oppose bills that hurt motorists (such as the bill to lower speed limits in MA from 30 to 25 in thickly settled areas).

Thanks for the advice and heads up as well.

Take care,

FB